Buckle



United States Pate BUCKLE John B. Freysinger, New Britain, Conn.,assignor to North & Judd Manufacturing Company, New Britain, Conn., acorporation of Connecticut Application March 23, 1954, Serial No.418,005

3 Claims. (Cl. 24-197) This invention relates to an improved bucklehaving two component parts which are adapted to be manually engaged anddisengaged, and are particularly arranged to provide a disengagement ofthe quick release type.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a two-piece bucklefor a belt or the like which is easy to buckle up, utilizes the tensionforce in the buckled belt to retain itself securely in buckled relation,and is particularly arranged to unbuckle to a completely disconnectedposition smoothly and abruptly upon actuation of its manual release.

Another object is to provide a buckle which, by reason of the aforesaidcharacteristics, is particularly suited for use as a fastening meanswhere both extreme reliability and quick manual disconnection aredesired, as in a safety belt. t

Another object is to provide a buckle which afi'ords sure and dependabledisengagement of its interlocking components in response to manualrelease of the same.

Another object is to provide a buckle of the character described whichis simple and sturdy in construction and can be fabricated easily andeconomically. 3

Another object is to provide a buckle of the quick release type which isstructurally simple and whose man.- ner of operation can be readilyunderstood at a glance.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more indetail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a plan view of the frame portion of a buckle constructed inaccordance with the present inf vention; V v

Figure 2 is a plan view of a slide portion of the buckle adapted toengage with the frame portion of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view of a modified version of the slide;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the buckle assembly in its buckled-upcondition;

Figure 5 is a view taken on the line 55 of Figure 4, showing therelative position of the buckle parts as the buckle assembly is beingdisengaged; and I Figure 6 is a view like Figure 5, showing the buckleparts just before complete disengagement.

Referring to the drawings, a preferred embodiment of a twoapiece buckleconstructed in accordance with the present invention includes a frame 2to which one end 4 of a flexible strap or belt may be secured, and aslide 6 to which the other end 8 of the strap, or the opposed end ofanother strap or the like may be connected. .The slide isinterengageable with the frame to form a secure and dependable buckledconnection for the opposing strap ends, in a manner which willhereinafter be described.

The frame 2 consists of a generally flat plate-like member having a pairof transverse bars 10, 12 connected at their extremities bylongitudinallyextending side bars .14,

, frame is cut away or relieved at its ends to form a pair oflongitudinally extending notches or recesses 22, 24, defining aforwardly extending ledge 25. The inner or rearwardly extending edge 26of the other bar 12 of frame 2 is likewise relieved to form otherlongitudinally extending recesses 28, 30 which, together with the firstrecesses22, 24, define a pair of longitudinally extending slots 32, 34.Connecting the slots intermediate their ends is a transverse aperture 36in the frame defined by the opposed inner edges 20, 26 of the transversebars 10, 12. The inner edge of bar 10 is slightly downwardly bent orcurved along a transverse axis to provide an inclined transverseforwardly extending pivot ledge 40. The slots 32, 34 and thetransversely extending aperture 36 between the sides therefore form agenerally H-shaped aperture in the frame, the spaced inner edges 20, 26of the transverse bars 10, 12 forming opposed tongues or bosses.

The slide 6 includes a transversely extending rear cross bar 50 and alongitudinally spaced front cross bar 52. The cross bars 50, 52 arespaced apart wider than the spacing of the ledge and bar 12 of frame 2,and are adapted to seat thereon, respectively, when the fastening meansis buckled up.' Cross bar 54 may be enclosed within a roller 53, asshown in the alternative embodiment of Figure 3. The cross bars 59, 52of slide 6 are connected at their extremities by longitudinallyextending side bars 54, 56, and the cross bars are shorter than thetransverse dimension of the aperture 36 in frame 2 so as to permitinsertion of the slide 6 upwardly therethrough in an edgewise mannerwhen buckling up the device. Each side bar of'slide 6 is downwardly bentabout a longitudinal axis to provide down-turned flanges 60, 62

which are adapted to seat or engage in the respective slots 32, 34 inthe frame when the cross bars 50, 52 0f slide 6 are in seated engagementwith the ledge 40 and ledge 25 of frame 2, respectively. The 'side bars54, 56'

are also provided with downwardly extending earns 64,

66, preferably formed integrally with flanges 60, 62. The cams 64, 66have a lift, as shown in Figures 5 and 6,

slightly greater than the length of recesses 28, 30 and are adapted tobottom in the forward ends 65, 67 of recesses 28, 30, respectively, asthe buckle assembly is being disconnected, for a purpose hereinafterdescribed.

Intermediate cross bars 50, 52, the slide is provided with anothertransversely extending cross bar 68, which i is adapted to be looped bythe other end 8 of the strap or the like with which the buckle is usedto provide an anchortherefon- The intermediate cross bar 68 forms withthe side bars and front and rear cross bars of the slide a pair oftransversely extending slots 70, 72 which preferably are of suflicientlength and width to permit easy threading ofthe strap therethroughduring looping of the strap .around cross bar 68. The end 8 of the strapis preferably connected to the slide by'threading its free end upwardlythrough slot 79, over the top of cross bar68, anddownwardly through slot72.. Cross bar 68 is longitudinally spaced from cross bars 50, 52 of theslide sufi'iciently closely so as toclamp or secure the portion of thestrap passing through the slot 72 between the cross bar'68 and theadjacent inner edge 26 of transverse bar 12 of'frame '2 when the buckleis assembled. In this way tension inthe strap serves both" to maintainslide 6 in seated engagement with'fra'me '2 and to prevent the strap end8 from slipping out of loop;

ing engagement with the cross bar 68.

a slide, said slide having a pair of spaced-apart side bars, a rearcross bar, an intermediate cross bar about which a strap end is adaptedto be looped, a front cross bar, and a roller about said rear cross bar,said side bars having flanges disposed at right angles to the plane ofthe slide, said frame comprising a pair of spaced-apart longitudinallyextending bars connected at their ends by a rear transverse bar and afront transverse bar to form an opening through which said slide may beinserted, anchor means associated with the frame about which anotherstrap end is adapted to be looped, a rearwardly extending ledge on thefront transverse bar for supporting the front cross bar of the slide, aforwardly extending ledge on the rear transverse bar upon which saidroller is adapted to rest when the buckle is connected and off which theroller is adapted to roll during disconnection of the buckle, saidledges terminating short of said longitudinally extending bars toprovide notches dimensioned to receive the ends of said flanges, andcams on the side bars of said slide dimensioned to bottom in the notchesof said front transverse bar during disconnection of said buckle toprevent said re'arwardly extending ledge from becoming inserted betweensaid intermediate and front cross bars.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS447,070 Henry Feb. 24, 1891 1,514,462 Ritter Nov. 4, 1924 FOREIGNPATENTS 39,080 Sweden July 14, 1915

